PGA Championship: Martin Kaymer Edges Bubba Watson In Playoff After Controversial Finish

After Bubba Watson landed in the water hazard short of 18 green, Martin Kaymer chipped out of the rough, hit his third shot from 190 yards to the green, then two-putted to win the championship.

Watson and Kaymer both tried to drive the green at 10. Kaymer ended up in an unfortunate sand area (is it a bnunker? who knows!) and made par. Watson did better and made a four foot bputt for birdie.

After Dustin Johnson arrived at his tee shot on the 18th hole at Whistling Straits, he found his ball in a waste bunker area where the crowd was standing. He hit his approach way to the left, nearly got up and down for par. With bogey, he dropped into a three-way playoff with Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson.

But, Johnson may be penalized for grounding his club in the waste area. If ruled a bunker, then Johnson would be breaking the Rules of Golf, which state that a player cannot ground his club in a bunker while addressing the ball. The two stroke penalty would remove Johnson from the playoff.

With a driver in his hand and the championship for the taking, Dustin Johnson hit a huge block drive on the 18th hole at Whistling Straits. He hit it about halfway into a nearly 20-deep crowd on the right side of the hole.

Another name to not forget? Rory McIlroy. He just got to 11-under.

After making birdie at the sixth hole to regain a share of the lead, Nick Watney his a terrible tee shot on the par three 7th hole. His tee shot ricocheted off of the rocks short and right of the green and barely into Lake Michigan. He will surely lose his spot atop the leaderboard – again.

The man from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is in contention for his second major championship. Zach Johnson has a short birdie try at the lengthy par 4 eighth hole. The approach from 228 yards came on the heels of a bogey by Jim Furyk to drop to 9-under par.

Johnson may not be from Wisconsin like Steve Stricker, but he’s the representative on this Sunday.

The list of contenders for the Wanamaker Trophy is getting longer. Bubba Watson made eagle at the punching bag par 5 fifth hole to get to 9-under par and just two shots out of the lead. Camilo Villegas is also playing well. He is five-under through eight holes and notched at minus-9 with Watson.

Rory McIlroy is making standing still look like a challenge. He is even par through three holes, but added another great escape at the third. After his tee shot went long and left, McIlroy was again with the sand. Quickly elevating his shot from a downhill slope way up the hill to the green, McIlroy was able to make an outstanding save again. He remains at 10-under.

The first hole at Whistling Straits is benign. It should be a long iron off the tee and a mid iron into the green. But the simple hole proved dramatic for the final groups.

Rory McIlroy began his round with driver off the tee, leaving it in a fairway bunker with an awkward lie. He skied the green by some forty yards in a bunker behind the green. Incredibly, McIlroy hit the long bunker shot to a few feet for what became an all-world par.

Tiger Woods went out on his final round front nine in one-under par. With just two pars, Woods had four birdies and three bogeys on that side.

Woods will have to finish in the top 7 today in order to automatically qualify for the Ryder Cup team. That’s looking very unlikely right now.

Tiger Woods completed the front nine on a roller coaster ride. He went out in one-under par and is now four-under overall after a disappointing three putt bogey at the ninth.

Neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson was in position to win the PGA Championship entering today’s final round. But each has done a bit of work early.

Woods made birdies on his first two holes and three of his first four to move to 5-under overall, and he has more room to make up ground on leader Nick Watney than Mickelson does. Tiger’s still eight shots behind Watney, though, and despite being 5-under over his last 12 holes, he’ll need a miracle to contend. It would be Woods’ first win at a major after being behind through 54 holes.